I feel sorry for Kaja Kallas. I am sorry that this kind of scandal will end – at least for a while – Kaja Kallas’ attention in Estonian and international politics.
The cornerstone of power is reputation, which the prime minister does not have much left, unfortunately, due to his own mistakes. Even more, I feel sorry for the people of Estonia, the last of whom are now ceasing to trust politicians.
Wartime Prime Minister Rules
The record result of the Reform Party in the parliamentary elections in March was largely influenced by the security situation in Europe and the fact that Kaja Kallas defined herself everywhere as a wartime prime minister. International prominence, pioneering spirit and clear positions created trust, and the slogan “Eesti in firm hands!” told a much-needed story at that very moment. The voters made their decision, and the most liberal coalition of all time was born in Maarjamaa. Voice of the people, voice of God.
However, with such record-breaking success comes record-breaking responsibility, which must be borne wisely. Although one might have expected that with such fullness of power, the experienced Reform Party would play tricks with its coalition partners, and all pages of its election program would be implemented with playful ease, but in reality, one problem will not end until another one has already begun. Aptly said by those who find the planetary position exceptionally bad for squirrels.
The fact that the prime minister, who assumed the role of a wartime moral beacon, failed to check what those close to him were doing, is particularly surprising. It is very difficult to understand. Understandably, even politicians have private lives, every detail of which the public does not need to know, but it is probably not an exaggeration that a wartime prime minister must be prime minister first and husband second.
Coincidentally, the Prime Minister is also one of the most informed people in the entire country, whose daily work is helped by quite a large number of people. Even so that the Estonian state is very well managed and things are under control. Inevitably, however, the impression has now arisen that all this is not enough to protect the prime minister and our country from the kind of problems that have unfolded in the media at the moment. Especially in the case of a wartime prime minister. But with the departure of the prime minister, a considerable part of his office will also be removed from office, so negligence will be rewarded, at least in some cases.
There is already a replacement for Kallas
In some statements of opinion, it is dramatically expressed how this is a breathtaking blow for the Reform Party, from which it will take a long time to recover, and now they can no longer be in the government. However, the actual situation is much more pragmatic: the parliamentary mathematics is currently such that a functioning coalition cannot be assembled without the Reform Party. The popularity survey of political parties will probably drop for a while, and there may be a lasting effect during the European Parliament elections, but that’s all in the grand scheme of things.
Therefore, there is no need to rush to assemble a new government, because there is already a replacement for Kallas in the Reform Party. There may even be several, but the prime minister, who needs to be replaced, will be one of the last to know the name. At the height of the big summer, there was also speculation about those men who are already ironing ties to take over the office of prime minister, so the work plan is definitely there, now it just needs to be implemented sooner.
Kaja Kallas’ fatigue in the position of Prime Minister has been talked about in the corridors of the Riigikogu and probably outside of it since the time the current government took office. Until now, the situation in Europe was tried to pull a rabbit out of the hat, which would allow a sufficiently dignified job change, but now the situation has changed. Even if you believe what the reform parties say that the prime minister’s Russia scandal does not get international attention, all those with whom Kallas goes to Europe to compete for positions will dig it up anyway.
The weakest point is domestic issues – literally
I have discussed the scandal that hit the Prime Minister with people whose job and special skill is to communicate complex crises, and the understanding is the same: the Prime Minister is either given terribly bad advice or he does not listen to the right advice; over the past few days, several opportunities have been missed to share concrete and comprehensive explanations, but the public can only see an irritated head of government and businessmen avoiding journalists. Whichever way this story ends, PR managers will have a juicy textbook example going forward.
I am not ashamed to say that Kaja Kallas has proven herself as a strong international politician in the office of Prime Minister, who is well aware of what is happening in Europe and the world and represented Estonia well. Until now. It is worth reminding – as if by an irony of fate – that Kallas has been criticized for his impatience and lack of depth when it comes to domestic issues.
Now, the domestic issue has taken a toll on the international level as well. If we rewind the thread further in history, we remember the Autorollo scandal, from which we can conclude that squirrels will be worth anything in the future truck– companies to avoid, because they only seem to come out of thick trouble.
Since everything is possible in politics, of course there is also a probability that Kaja Kallas will continue as head of government. It is true that a communication miracle would have to happen for this, because the confidence in the prime minister has strongly fluctuated both among the public, the press, among the coalition partners and within the Reform Party. Restoring a lost reputation and good name could prove to be a cleansing of Augeias’ stables, especially in a scandal of such circumstances.
The topic can be summed up with the thought of Friedrich Nietzsche: “It is easier to deal with a bad conscience than a damaged reputation”.
